Problem with Steam

[TassieDevil]

Hi all,

I'm a begrudging new Steam user (a game I wanted is only available via that medium), and I have been using it for a couple of months now without incident.

Early this morning, Steam stopped co-operating. (http://store.steampowered.com/)

Within my game, I noticed that I could no longer see a list of available servers to join for multiplayer games, although I'd literally just finished playing on one for some hours. When I closed the game and looked into the Steam client, I found I was unable to view the main, front page of Steam (usually the "Featured" games page, I believe).. nor could I access nearly all of the other tabs or "pages" within the Steam client. The main page returned the following..

Error Code: -118

Unable to connect to server. Server may be offline or you may not be connected to the internet.

Curiously, I still had an active "Friends List" and was able to chat to a friend using the provided text chat feature.

I then tried to access the Steam website in my preferred browser (Opera). No part of the Steam domain group is accessible (store.steampowered.com, support.steampowered.com, etc etc). I tried IE as well, but to no avail. I then tried to access the site from my laptop, which is connected to the 'Net via my home wi-fi (same ADSL connection as my PC), using both Opera and IE, but this failed as well. On either PC or laptop, I have no problem accessing any other website I tried, being an assortment from all over the world.

I've now spent about 8 hrs trying to solve this problem. I've tried:

- Rebooting my PC multiple times.
- Rebooting my router multiple times.
- Removing all traces of Steam from my firewall (ZoneAlarm Free).
- Shutting down the firewall completely.
- Disabling my AV software (AVGFree) via it's internal disabling feature.
- Clearing all cookies and histories from my browsers.
- Checking my Windows 7 Hosts file for entries (it's empty, except for the default Microsoft text)
- Changing "download servers" within the Steam client itself (I suspect this only changes the mirrors used for downloadable content, and does not affect Steam's "authentication" login, however that works)
- Accessing the Steam website from a neighbour's computer, who is also an Exetel customer (this was successful in Opera, but not in IE, btw).
- Pinging "steampowered.com", which resolves the IP address, but times out and receives no returning signals.

With regards to pinging, I figured that if ping is able to resolve the address, then it shouldn't be a DNS problem (I've got Exetel's primary and secondary DNS servers entered into my router's settings), but I could be wrong about this.

I also tried using my iPod Touch to access the Steam website, via my home wi-fi (confirmed). Bizarrely, it worked, but I am unable to log into my account from that device (I don't know why.. I made sure I had the client on my PC turned off).

I've been suspecting some kind of ban or ISP problem, but being able to access the domain on the iPod puts that theory into doubt.

Any assistance would be appreciated. I'll check back later this evening for comments or to answer questions.

Thanks in advance,
TassieDevil

System:
Win7 Ultimate SP1, 16Gb RAM.

[angelos]

Hi TassieDevil,

Kindly note that we have forwarded an email to your nominated account with a suggestion on how to fix the issue.

[TassieDevil]

Hi TassieDevil,

Kindly note that we have forwarded an email to your nominated account with a suggestion on how to fix the issue.

Thanks for the emails, Angelos.

I regret that your suggestion did not fix my issue, and so I'm still searching for answers..

TassieDevil

[TassieDevil]

About half an hour ago, this problem ceased.

Steam functionality appears to have returned to normal. The server browser in my new game is now populated. The website is now accessible. I can now successfully ping and tracert the Steam domain.

Regrettably, I have absolutely no idea why it's resolved.. :\

TassieDevil